Irish police accused on Omagh

A senior officer in the Republic of Ireland's police knew the Real IRA was planning a car bomb attack in the north three weeks before the Omagh blast but decided against passing the information to RUC colleagues for fear of exposing a valuable informer, a detective has claimed.

The extraordinary allegations made against the officer are being considered by a tribunal set up by the Irish government which is hearing evidence in secret.

The Guardian has learned the central witness is Garda detective sergeant John White, was arrested in July and is currently awaiting trial for attempting to pervert the course of justice in a matter unrelated to Omagh.

Mr White has claimed in evidence presented to the tribunal that in the weeks before the bombing he spoke to a senior detective four times about information he was receiving from a reliable informer that the Real IRA was planning an attack using a stolen car.

In one face-to-face meeting four days before the blast, Mr White claims he asked the officer whether any preventive action was going to be taken. The officer is alleged to have replied: "John, I think we are going to let this one through." Mr White has said his informer contacted him again the day before the bombing to tell him the Real IRA had obtained a car for the attack.

Mr White claims he passed this information to the officer, but the details were not logged or passed on to the RUC, now the Police Service of Northern Ireland, and no attempts were made to trace the car or put it under surveillance.

The senior detective could not have known at that stage the bomb was destined for Omagh, but the RUC had also received two warnings about an imminent strike, including one naming the town.

A spokesman for the Gardai said last night: "These allegations are without foundation."

Mr White, however, says the Gardai might have prevented the atrocity if the two forces had pooled information, put a watch on leading Real IRA suspects and traced cars recently stolen in border areas.

"Myself, the senior officer, and perhaps certain other people in the NSU [National Surveillance Unit] and X [the informer] had the information and we had the ability to stop the Omagh bomb," he told the tribunal.

Mr White made the allegations to the Northern Ireland ombudsman's office in March this year and it compiled an in-depth report, which was given to the Irish government. Because the allegations involved "sensitive security matters", the justice minister, John O'Donoghue, set up a three-man panel to investigate the affair.

In a statement at the end of April, Mr O'Donoghue said: "The Garda commissioner has assured [me ] there is no basis for any suggestion that there was information available to the Garda Siochana which could have enabled them to prevent the Omagh atrocity."

Mr O'Donoghue's statement added: "Notwithstanding the source of the allegations ...[it was] decided the allegations contained in the report should be examined independently." Mr White has also given a lengthy and extremely de- tailed statement to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

The bombing of Omagh in County Tyrone, on August 15 1998,killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins. Last December, Nuala O'Loan, Northern Ireland 's police ombudsman, published a damning report which said the RUC special branch failed to pass on two warnings about a potential terrorist attack in the days before the bombing.

Mrs O'Loan criticised the former RUC chief constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, for displaying poor judgement and leadership. Her findings are being challenged in a civil case.

Michael Gallagher, who lost his 21-year-old son, Aidan, said yesterday: "Compared to what we learned in the report about the RUC investigation, this is equally, if not more, worthy of independent public inquiry, which is perhaps the only way to get the truth."

The ministry of justice said yesterday that the panel would report its findings to the minister "in the coming months". It is not clear to what extent the report will be made public.

Asked whether the senior officer at the centre of the claims had given evidence yet, a spokesman for the department said: "I don't know. I have no details about the workings of this inquiry.

"The final report will go to the minister. He will comment when the investigation is completed. We are not in a position to comment further."

A spokesman for the Garda said it had not been possible to contact the officer yesterday afternoon and said Mr White's claims were "old news".

"I can confirm that this office has received a number of very similar queries from newspapers and TV programmes in recent weeks. In each case the allegations emanated from the same source. These allegations are without foundation. "The Garda commissioner is concerned such unfounded allegations would be a source of anxiety to any relatives of those tragically killed or injured in the Omagh bomb."